Elisha-barton cutten



"No Model.)

VE.B.GU TT METHOD OF ADJUSTING THE JOINTS No. 510,899.

0 RBON ELECTRODES. Patented Dec. 19, 189-3.

W/ J wfi; Q h WW m lllllllmw fi zin essesy /64// IrWV UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ELISHA BARTON OUTTEN, OF NEW YORK, N. .Y.

METHOD OF ADJUSTING THE JOINTS OF CARBON ELECTRODES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 510,899, dated December 19, 1893,

Application filed March 2 1893- To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ELISHA BARTON CUTTEN, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Methods of Adjusting the Joints of Carbon- Electrodes for Electrolytic Cells, of which the following is a specification.

In all forms of cells in which carbon electrodes are used, much difficulty is experienced in making the joint between the carbon electrode and its holder in such a way that the electrolyte will not, in time, enter the same or deposit salts therein. The effect of this last is to cause material variations in the resistance at the joint and sometimes unduly to increase that resistance.

In electrolytic cells, especially where multiple electrodes are used, itis of particular importance that the resistance of the joints whereat these electrodes are held should be substantially uniform, so that the work of electro-decomposition at the surface of each electrode should be about the same. This is especially the case in the type of electrolytic cells used by me for the production of caustic soda and chlorine from a solution of sodium chloride, in which chlorine is produced at the anode, and soda at the cathode. In such a cell, the anodes are bars of carbon, and the gas arising from them is drawn out of the liquid by a pump and into a suitable bell, whence it is conducted to a proper receptacle. It is desirable, in such case, that the gas should be given 0E uniformly by the separate anodes, which of course follows a uniform distribution of the current depending on the separate resistances of these last.

My present invention consists in a method of determining that the joint at each electrode is of certain and definite resistance, and of adjusting such resistance to the desired extent.

The accompanying drawing is a longitudinal section of my electrode connected in circuit with a means for determining and regulating the resistance at the joint.

A is the electrode of carbon, and B is a rod also of carbon which has a conical or tapered end and is inserted into a suitable. cavity in the end of the electrode A. The extremity of the electrode A, into which the rod Bis inserted, is impregnated with paraifine, and the Serial No. 467,925- (No model.)

rod B is also impregnated with the same material. ldo not claim herein the construction of an electrode joined in the manner just described, because such construction forms the subject of a separate application filed by me simultaneously herewith, serially numbered 467,926. In dealing with such a high-resisting material as carbon, it will be obvious that the extent of electrical resistance offered by the joint between A and B will depend greatly upon the closeness with which the parts of the joint are held in contact; so that if the contact be a loose one, the resistance will necessarily be very high, while if it be a tight one, the resistance will be greatly diminished. My method of regulating this, or in other words, of adj nsting the resistance at the jointto any desired degree, I carry into efiect in the following manner: I attach to the rod B, by means of a suitable clamp, such as 0, one terminal of a battery, E, or other source of electricity, and I connect the other terminal of the battery to the farther end of the electrode A preferably by a wire D which is wound tightly in'a coil around the electrode. It is of course important that there should be close contact between the battery terminals and the parts to which they are connected, and for this purpose I may first electro-plate such parts with copper before applying the wire coil D or the clamp O. In the circuit of the battery E is interposed an ammeter, F, by means of which I determine the strength of the current which is passed through the electrode A and the rod B. This strength should be, of course, equal to that which it is desired to pass through the electrode in the cell in which the electrode is to be used. Ithen connect a voltmeter, G, to the wire coil D and to the clamp C so that it will be in multiple arc relation to the battery E, and of course measure the difference of potential existing between the clamp O and the wire D, or in other words, between the end of the electrode A and the point at which the current enters at the other end. Of course, if the strength of the current is kept constant, the diiference of potential between the terminals D and C will vary with the resistance; and this resistance, as I have already pointed out, will depend upon the closeness of the joint between B and C; so that if, in the beginning, the rod B be inserted loosely in electrode A so that there is at the outset a high resistance, Imay,

by carefully driving the rod B into A, reduce that resistance to any desired amount and note the fact when that desired amount is obtained from the voltmeter G. The fact that the lower end of the electrode A and the rod B are both thoroughly impregnated with parafitine increases the holding capacity of the surfaces forced together; so that, after the driving operation is finished, there is very little, if any, tendency for the joint to become altered when placed in the electrolytic cell, because such cells are usually of large dimensions and not intended to be moved from the position in which they are built. In this way I have found, by actual practice, that I am enabled to construct large electrolytic cells for the extraction of caustic soda and chlorine on a commercial scale without material variation in the resistance offered by the joints of the electrodes, and thus to distribute the current through the latter in the most advantageous way. This fact I have demonstrated by actual practice with a number of such cells working for a considerable time; all of such cells being practical, operative, full-sized apparatus producing materials which are sold in the market. In such cells,

the electrode A is a body of carbon measuring from two to three feet in length and some four inches in thickness, and the rods B are preferably electric light carbons varying upward from an inch in thickness.

I claim- 1. The method of forming the joints of carbon electrodes for electrolytic cells, which consists in combining together the electrode and a carbon holder or terminal therefor (one of said parts being impregnated with paraffine), connecting said electrode and holder with a source of electricity, and a means for indicating the resistance at the joint, and then adjusting the parts of said joint in more or less close contact until a certain definite resistance at said joint is obtained and indicated.

2. The method of forming the joints of carbon electrodes for electrolytic cells, which consists in combining together the electrode and a carbon holder or terminal therefor, (one or both of said parts being impregnated with parafline) by inserting one part in a recess in the other; second, connecting said joint with a source of electricity yielding a constant current and in multiple arc relation to said source with a voltmeter, and third, adjusting said parts into more or less close contact until a certain predetermined resistance, indicated by said "oltmeter, is obtained at said joint.

ELISHA BARTON OUTTEN.

Witnesses:

H. R. MOLLER, IVI. BOSCH. 

